fbpx

Creative K Kids

*Cooking * Crafting * Contemplation * Chaos *




It’s Our Reasonable Service

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Go HERE for more disclaimers.

By

It is our reasonable service to live for Him who died for us.

I have really enjoyed doing inductive Bible studies using a service called “Mama’s Refill.” It was started by the mom, Pam Forster, who has done many inductive Bible study books and sells them on her family’s website, Doorposts.

This month, I have been studying Psalm 22 which is a prophetic psalm on the death of Christ. I thought it would be great to meditate and study this psalm to prepare my heart for Easter.

As always, the study has been a great blessing. I have learned a lot; but more than just head knowledge, my heart has been overwhelmed by what Christ has done for me.

The major take-away of studying this psalm for me has been a renewed amazement at what Christ did so that we could be saved.

He bore reproach and mocking, excruciating pain, intense sorrow, rejection, and death. If all Christ did for us was die on the cross, that would be enough to be eternally grateful. Since we have received His gift of eternal life, we should wish for nothing more. Even if we lived in poverty and had only terrible and painful circumstances happen to us, we should be thankful for our salvation and our home that awaits in Heaven.

Yet, eternal life is not all that He has given us!

  • He has supplied all our needs.
  • He has become our friend.
  • He has given us many comforts.
  • Many of us have good health.
  • We have His Word.
  • We can go to church and worship God freely.
  • We have commentaries and devices that help us learn God’s Word and godly music we can listen to.
  • Friends encourage our hearts.
  • Many have money in their bank accounts, cars to drive, and a roof over their head.
  • And the list can go on and on!

Yet with all of these wonderful gifts PLUS the most amazing gift — eternal life, we still find ourselves complaing. To want what we don’t have. To wonder why God is allowing us to go through difficulties. To get mad when we don’t get our way. To blame God when things go wrong.

We forget that not only did He endure the cross, but he also endured many other reproaches we never have had to endure:

  1. He took upon Himself the form of a servant.
    But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Philippians 2:7
  2. He left the glories of Heaven to be born in a cave where animals were kept.
    For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9
  3. His appearance was marred more than any other man’s.
    As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: Isaiah 52:14
  4. He was reproached as a bad man and as a blasphemer.
    Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! Matthew 26:65
  5. He was accused of breaking the sabbath.
    And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days? Luke 6:2
  6. He was accused of being a wine-bibber, being friends with evil companions.
    The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! Luke 7:34
  7. He was called a liar.
    The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true. John 8:13
  8. He was accused of being an enemy to Caesar.
    And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. John 19:12
  9. He was accused of being given power by Satan.
    Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Matthew 12:24
  10. He was despised of the people.
    And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. Luke 16:14
  11. He came from a country that did not have a good reputation.
    And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? John 1:46
  12. His earthly father was a carpenter or a construction worker.
    Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? Matthew 13:55
  13. Those that saw him hanging on the cross laughed him to scorn.
    And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. Luke 23:36-37

Just as His tormentors despised Him, considering Him unworthy of their consideration or respect, Jesus despised the shame He was suffering. He thought little of it, compared to the eternal glory that awaited Him. He suffered horrible anguish, beyond anything we could ever imagine. He told His Father what He was experiencing, and He cried out to God for deliverance. But, “for the joy that was set before Him,” He endured the cross.

Pam Forster

When we consider all of this, we can easily declare that it is our “reasonable service” to present our bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” What could stop us? We will live for Him who died for us! It’s only reasonable. It is what our desire should be. It should be our daily motivation. Nothing should deter us from making His glory upheld and honored. He will be magnified. He will be adored.

We owe Him everything — but all we can give is ourselves.

Are you living for Him? He died for you. It is our reasonable service.

The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 341

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Go HERE for more disclaimers.

By

Here’s what’s new on Creative K Kids:

Thank you for participating in The Ultimate Pinterest Party!

Please share this party with your blogger friends!! If you would like to receive an email reminding you to link up, you can sign up HERE.

Ultimate Pinterest Party -- weekly from 8 am Friday Eastern time - 8 am Saturday on https://creativekkids.com/

HERE IS THE FAVORITE PIN FROM LAST WEEK’S PARTY:

Favorite pin from The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 341

DIY Bunny Tail Embroidery Hoop for Spring from Creatively Beth

HERE ARE THE FEATURED PINS FROM LAST WEEK’S PARTY:

The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 341 Featured Pins

RULES:

  • Rule #1: Link up only 2 PINS (not blog posts. Pins that are duplicates from a previous week will not be repinned.)
  • Rule #2: Do NOT re-pin from the linky below.
  • Rule #3: You must commit to re-pinning from this week’s party on SATURDAY or SUNDAY. Click HERE: WEEK 341, THE ULTIMATE PINTEREST PARTY
  • Rule #4: Please only link up your own original pins that contain your images to this party. Do not link up pictures of other bloggers that you may have included in a round-up. Your collage of pictures for a round-up would be fine.
  • Rule #5: Please do not link up sale posts from your blog or sale posts that go to Etsy or Ebay –only pins that go to actual blog posts on your blog. Thank you.

Details to Observe:

  • Before you link up the pin, click on the pin and make sure it takes you to your post, not your home page.
  • Linking up to this party gives the hosts permission to use a picture and a link to your post if they feature your post on their blogs or social media.
  • Creative K Kids is not responsible for stolen images or the mis-use by others who have found your image through CreativeKKids.com.

Thanks for making this party such a success!!

PLEASE SHARE! You can share on all the social medias (facebook, google+, etc.) but here is a Twitter button to make it easy!

NOW LET’S GET TO OUR PARTY!

  • Follow Tammy from Creative K Kids on Pinterest. (Click “Follow All” and then go back and unfollow individual boards if you don’t want to see some of our pins):

Click HERE to follow on Pinterest.

host of The Ultimate Pinterest Party

  • Tammy will have all the pins pinned by 8 am Eastern time Saturday morning.
  • Please re-pin sometime on Saturday or Sunday. If you know that you do not have the time to re-pin pins, then DO NOT LINK UP!
  • I can decide to not pin a pin if it goes against my beliefs or against the rules of this party.
  • Please grab the button to help bring awareness to this party. Put on your party page, sidebar, or post!
Creative K KIds

PLEASE LINK UP ONLY 2 PINS! (THAT ARE NON-ALCOHOLIC!)

Please sign up HERE to receive emails about the party being open on Friday morning! An email will also be sent on Saturday morning to remind you to repin a few links!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Steps to Raising Children to Be Successful Adults

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Go HERE for more disclaimers.

By

How do you raise successful adults? That is the question. . .

My husband and I have five children. The oldest is 18 and the youngest is 10; and if we succeed in raising successful adults, it is because God has been very good to us. We have not been perfect; and I feel like half the time, we don’t know if we are doing the parenting job right; however, it is the job God has given us to do. Praise the Lord that He never leaves us nor forsakes us, that He directs our steps, and that He will give us His strength when He is weak.

I have to admit . . . parenting is humbling, mind-boggling, and there sometimes confusing. Each child is different, and there is no one-size-fits-all type of parenting.

Wonderful quote about seizing the day.

When it comes to raising success adults, the first question that must be asked is, “What is your definition of success?”

Do you want them to earn a lot of money? Do you want them to be able to support themselves and to be go-getters? Do you want them to get married and have children?

As a Christian, obviously we want our children to love the Lord first of all.

We want the faith that we practice in our house to be real in their lives. That they make our God their own personal God. Then we want them to be sensitive to what God would want them to do with their lives. That doesn’t always line up with what the world may call successful. They may not make much money. They may go into full-time Christian work or go on the mission field. We would be excited if that is what God calls them to do with their lives; but we would be just as excited if God wanted them to be doctors here in the United States and they were able to show the love of Christ through their care of others. We want them to be doing what God has called them to do.

However, even if that is not what your definition of being a successful adult, I think we can all agree on a few things. Successful adults need to be able to do a few things:

  • Work hard.
  • Prepare financially for themselves and their family.
  • Be able to live independently of their parents.
  • Be kind.
  • Be honest.
Good quote on true courage -- it is the ability to manage and control fear.

These are just the first few things that popped into my head. These may seem like no-brainers, but sometimes, they are harder to teach than it seems. For instance, my youngest, is a sweetheart. She is my most social child. You want someone to be a friend to a new person? Bring her to meet them. She loves to do art. She also loves her Kindle. She hates piano practice, and she doesn’t like the academic part of school. She is capable of doing great at school — she just doesn’t love the work that is involved. She would rather be talking to her friends. After much stress this past week, we finally dropped piano. It wasn’t worth the stress on my life as I sat over her for piano practice. But she also got her Kindle taken away for 2 months and she has to help me every day do different jobs instead of doing piano practice. Why? She needs to be able to work. Play is fun, but when she is an adult, she needs to also know how to work.

When I was asked to look at the book, The Straight A Handbook: The 50 Most Powerful Secrets for Ultimate Success in and Out of the Classroom, the first part of the title did not grab my attention to much. My children so far have been straight A students, but some children cannot get straight A’s no matter how much they try. I just want my kids to do the best they can do — which comes down to their work ethic. Thus, the second part of the title, The 50 Most Powerful Secrets for Ultimate Success in and Out of the Classroom, did make me pay attention. I want my kids to have success in and out of the classroom. I want them to have grow up to be successful adults when I am no longer there to watch over them.

Good quote about how hard work is necessary for success in life.

In this book, there are 50 short chapters, each one with a “secret” for ultimate success. They are not necessarily secrets– I would call many of them reminders as they are easily forgotten. But they are important. The book is interesting with personal stories of the author’s life or with stories of other people who are successful and what made them successful. For example, in the first chapter, John Chuback, the author, tells of when he entered his surgical residency and the speech that was given to him by the Chairman of the Department of Surgery and how that the only reason he had risen to that position was that he out-sat (or sat longer than anyone else in his studies) and out-read them. Here is a quote from the very end of that first chapter:

Rule number one in being a great student: you have to read like crazy!

John Chuback, M.D.

That is where I have messed up with my youngest. I went to work when she was 4 and was no longer a stay-at-home like I was with the others. I read, read, read to my oldest four as I was at home and I always had another baby so I read to them while I fed the baby. But she was the baby. I was running here and there with the older 4. Then I had to go back to work; then we moved 20 hours to a new ministry. I wasn’t at home as much; she didn’t love to read; and I didn’t make her. I used to do library reading programs, but the ones here in Florida weren’t like the ones we had in Illinois, so I didn’t make it a priority. I was tired, and it slipped through the cracks. She had access to devices like my others never had, and she became a pro at them. And she can’t think like the others — she’s not dumb. Not at all. But I do think devices (too much of them) change the way kids think. So we are taking at least a two month break from devices and I’m making her read every day — only about 20 minutes, but she has to read.

Here are just a few of the good advice given in this book. Some of them are original to the author, but many quotes are oldies but goodies passed down from the wisdom of those who have come before us:

He who shall thrive must rise at five; while he who has thriven may rise at seven.

Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not here yet, all we have is today.

Nothing hard is ever easy.

Goals are dreams with deadlines.

You don’t know what you don’t know.

Courage is not the lack of fear. Courage is the ability to manage and control fear.

Choose your friends wisely.

This book would be great for high school graduates. It gives a seriousness to thinking about what they must do if they want to achieve success as an adult. They must be willing to grow up and realize that they must work to accomplish their goals. It even helps them to see how to set those goals — to start learning what they want to get out of life. They must know themselves, know their interests, and then know how to get what they want. We can’t do it for them — they must be independent, successful adults.

This book is not a Christian book; the author admits he is not a man of faith; however, many of the principles could be found in the wisdom portions of the Bible such as the book of Proverbs. Some of the chapters talk about persistence, working hard, rising early, having good friends, staying out of trouble, not worrying, and seizing each day. All of those concepts and more have parallels that can be found in Scripture.

I’m going to read some of these small chapters to my kids as these are great concepts for everyone to put into practice. They will help instill good work ethics and encourage good lifestyles we would desire for our children. I think it is a good book for every child to read before they embark out on their own. It looks like there will also be a Kindle version which will make the book inexpensive. Go check it out!

You can see more about Dr. Chuback and his new book HERE. You can also listen to him talking about his book HERE and HERE.

The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 340

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Go HERE for more disclaimers.

By

Here’s what’s new on Creative K Kids:

Thank you for participating in The Ultimate Pinterest Party!

Please share this party with your blogger friends!! If you would like to receive an email reminding you to link up, you can sign up HERE.

Link up 2 pins to The Ultimate Pinterest Party from Friday at 8 am ET - Saturday 8 am ET

HERE IS THE FAVORITE PIN FROM LAST WEEK’S PARTY:

How to Naturally Dye Eggs from Simple Living Creative Learning

HERE ARE THE FEATURED PINS FROM LAST WEEK’S PARTY:

Featured pins from The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 340

RULES:

  • Rule #1: Link up only 2 PINS (not blog posts. Pins that are duplicates from a previous week will not be repinned.)
  • Rule #2: Do NOT re-pin from the linky below.
  • Rule #3: You must commit to re-pinning from this week’s party on SATURDAY or SUNDAY. Click HERE: WEEK 340, THE ULTIMATE PINTEREST PARTY
  • Rule #4: Please only link up your own original pins that contain your images to this party. Do not link up pictures of other bloggers that you may have included in a round-up. Your collage of pictures for a round-up would be fine.
  • Rule #5: Please do not link up sale posts from your blog or sale posts that go to Etsy or Ebay –only pins that go to actual blog posts on your blog. Thank you.

Details to Observe:

  • Before you link up the pin, click on the pin and make sure it takes you to your post, not your home page.
  • Linking up to this party gives the hosts permission to use a picture and a link to your post if they feature your post on their blogs or social media.
  • Creative K Kids is not responsible for stolen images or the mis-use by others who have found your image through CreativeKKids.com.

Thanks for making this party such a success!!

PLEASE SHARE! You can share on all the social medias (facebook, google+, etc.) but here is a Twitter button to make it easy!

NOW LET’S GET TO OUR PARTY!

  • Follow your host on Pinterest. (Click “Follow All” and then go back and unfollow individual boards if you don’t want to see some of our pins):

Tammy from Creative K Kids — Click HERE to follow on Pinterest.

host of The Ultimate Pinterest Party

  • We will have all the pins pinned by 8 am Eastern time Saturday morning.
  • Please re-pin sometime on Saturday or Sunday. If you know that you do not have the time to re-pin pins, then DO NOT LINK UP!
  • I can decide to not pin a pin if it goes against my beliefs or against the rules of this party.
  • Please grab the button to help bring awareness to this party. Put on your party page, sidebar, or post!
Creative K KIds

PLEASE LINK UP ONLY 2 PINS! (THAT ARE NON-ALCOHOLIC!)

Please sign up HERE to receive emails about the party being open on Friday morning! An email will also be sent on Saturday morning to remind you to repin a few links!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Printables for Who is God, Chapter 1

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Go HERE for more disclaimers.

By

I’ve stopped running the Thoughtful Thursdays party as I am not able to promote it as I used to do weekly and it’s hard for me to get a party up on Thursday mornings after teaching all day on Wednesday and having church on Wednesday night.

I would come home on Wednesday night so tired, try to write a post, and then go to bed and set my alarm to wake up early to do it before school on Thursday. Since I am not able to spend time blogging like I used to be able to do, my readership has gone down. I will still write posts that God lays on my heart as I go along, but I’m going to try to be methodical by hopefully writing more series of posts. Then, hopefully, I can clean up my old posts and organize series so that they are easy to find. I may spend time this summer doing that.

One thing I have done this school year is teach the book produced by Apologia called Who is God? And Can I Really Know Him? for our group Bible class of six students ranging from 3rd grade – 8th grade. I am not good at using the notebooks that correspond with the hardback textbook as there were many activities I didn’t want to use. The way I taught it is that I just read the text, we talked about it as I went along, and I made outlines with blanks they could fill in as we went through each chapter.

Free Printables for Who is God? and Can I Really Know Him? ch. 1 These are fill-in-the-blank notes that go with the chapter and a test for the chapter with answer keys.

Our school only has classes on Monday – Thursday; and on Monday and Thursday, we have chapel for 15 minutes. This means we only meet for Bible for 15 minutes on those days. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday we spend 30-45 minutes on Bible. I allowed three weeks for each chapter, which means that it took 30 weeks to get through one book, and we had about 34 weeks of school. The week before Christmas, we did Christmas readings; the week before spring break, I read some Patricia St. John short stories from her book, Stories to Share; and the last couple weeks of school, I may read a Patricia St. John book to them for fun.

Usually on Monday, we just went over the verse they were learning for the week, they recited the verse that was due that Monday (or took the test), and we went over the one to two catechisms that they were learning from The Shorter Catechism. These catechisms would be tested on the chapter tests. So they would have a verse due after the first week going through a chapter; they would have a verse due after the second week going through a chapter; and after the third week, the chapter would be done and there would be a test that next Monday.

Chapter 1 test has a study sheet at the end of the outline that the kids could use to study for the test. Starting with chapter 2, I would make the test from the outline that I had given them; so on the Thursday before the test, we would go through and they would highlight what they needed to study. That way, I didn’t have to make a study sheet for them. Since I have multiple ages, this made it easy for even the younger kids to study for the tests. As I went along, I kept tweaking things. For instance, in chapters 7 and 8, I included a third page of the test that was much harder and only middle school had to do that page.

The other thing that only middle school had to do were the Make Note of It sections. In the book, there are sections called, “Make Note of It.” It asks questions for discussion or for students to write down answers. I shared with the middle school a google doc that they could fill out, and then I would print them out and grade them. We would also discuss these sections on Monday as that is when they were due for a grade. I will share the separate document for the “Make Note of It” assignments for chapter one at the bottom of this post.

I will share these printables for free with you, but these do not in any way replace the book. They are of no use to you if you do not buy the book. Almost every chapter has a story in it that illustrates the truth that was being taught in the chapter. That was the kids favorite part of the chapters. The book also a code where you can print off resources that go with the book. The book includes different articles of interesting information and much more detail than I provided in my outline — these outlines are truly just outlines to keep the kids with me, paying attention, and a tool I could use to help the children study for their tests.

These outlines are not editable if you just click on the link. You would need to click on the link which would take you to my Google document. Then you would need to click on “File” and under “File” click on “Make a Copy.” After you make your own copy, you can edit your copy. Then if you don’t want the catechisms or verses on your copy, you can remove those items.

You can print out the notes for chapter 1 of Who is God? And Can I Really Know Him? HERE.

You can print out the “Make Note of It” sheets for chapter 1 HERE.

The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 339

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Go HERE for more disclaimers.

By

Here’s what’s new on Creative K Kids:

  • Come link up to this month’s Tasty Tuesday’s linky party HERE. All recipes get pinned to my Tasty Tuesday’s Pinterest board.
  • On this week’s Thoughtful Thursdays, I shared a review on Crystal Paine’s new book, Love-Centered Parenting. You can go see that post HERE.

Thank you for participating in The Ultimate Pinterest Party!

Please share this party with your blogger friends!! If you would like to receive an email reminding you to link up, you can sign up HERE.

I’m not sure what is really up with Ali. She was sick, but she hasn’t responded to my messages on Facebook the past couple of weeks. Please pray for her that she is okay. Until I hear from her, I will host this party only here. I am pinning all your posts, so the party goes on!

Link up 2 pins to The Ultimate Pinterest Party from Friday at 8 am ET - Saturday 8 am ET

HERE IS THE FAVORITE PIN FROM LAST WEEK’S PARTY:

Favorite pin from The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 339, Tips for Growing Beautiful Dahlias
Tips for Growing Beautiful Dahlias from Petals, Pies and Otherwise

HERE ARE THE FEATURED PINS FROM LAST WEEK’S PARTY:

Featured pins from The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 339

RULES:

  • Rule #1: Link up only 2 PINS (not blog posts. Pins that are duplicates from a previous week will not be repinned.)
  • Rule #2: Do NOT re-pin from the linky below.
  • Rule #3: You must commit to re-pinning from this week’s party on SATURDAY or SUNDAY. Click HERE: WEEK 339, THE ULTIMATE PINTEREST PARTY
  • Rule #4: Please only link up your own original pins that contain your images to this party. Do not link up pictures of other bloggers that you may have included in a round-up. Your collage of pictures for a round-up would be fine.
  • Rule #5: Please do not link up sale posts from your blog or sale posts that go to Etsy or Ebay –only pins that go to actual blog posts on your blog. Thank you.

Details to Observe:

  • Before you link up the pin, click on the pin and make sure it takes you to your post, not your home page.
  • Linking up to this party gives the hosts permission to use a picture and a link to your post if they feature your post on their blogs or social media.
  • Creative K Kids is not responsible for stolen images or the mis-use by others who have found your image through CreativeKKids.com.

Thanks for making this party such a success!!

PLEASE SHARE! You can share on all the social medias (facebook, google+, etc.) but here is a Twitter button to make it easy!

NOW LET’S GET TO OUR PARTY!

  • Follow your host on Pinterest. (Click “Follow All” and then go back and unfollow individual boards if you don’t want to see some of our pins):

Tammy from Creative K Kids — Click HERE to follow on Pinterest.

host of The Ultimate Pinterest Party
Creative K KIds

PLEASE LINK UP ONLY 2 PINS! (THAT ARE NON-ALCOHOLIC!)

Please sign up HERE to receive emails about the party being open on Friday morning! An email will also be sent on Saturday morning to remind you to repin a few links!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Thoughtful Thursdays: Love-Centered Parenting Giveaway

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Go HERE for more disclaimers.

By

I rarely do reviews and giveaways anymore. But when I got an email asking if I wanted to get a copy of Crystal Paine’s new book, Love-Centered Parenting as well as offer a copy as a giveaway plus a $10 Amazon giftcard, I immediately responded that I would love to read it and share it.

I’ll share about the book in this post, but you can enter the giveaway only on Thursday! Go enter now!

Throughout the post, I will share some quotes that I liked from the Introduction and first chapter of Love-Centered Parenting.

“I’ve stopped second-guessing myself so much and started focusing on leaning in and loving. I’ve quit worrying constantly about my own reputation or what others will think and am resting and relying on God’s still, small Voice of Truth to give me wisdom for the next step.” — Crystal Paine

I have only read the introduction and chapter 1 of the book. It is written in a very engaging style that is easy to read. It also made me, as a parent, think about how I parent. Crystal starts off the book sharing how she wanted to be a parent who loved the Lord and bring up her children to love the Lord. This is what I want to do as well. However, she learned through some hard situations that happened with one of her children that she had to relearn how to parent. In the book, she shares her story of “letting go of control and manipulation and parenting for my reputation and relearning to parent from a place of love and grace.”

I had to think: In my parenting, am I more concerned about what others think of my parenting skills then of my child? Even if I don’t think I am, is that how it comes across to my children? As a pastor’s wife, I could see how my children might think this. Do my kids know that I love them — for real?

“I’m loving my kids and husband from a place of grace and a space of rest instead of a place of guilt and a space of stress.” –Crystal Paine

I have to admit, that parenting gets easier and harder. Some days it is easier as the kids get older, and some days it is harder. My oldest — oh my. She was so strong-willed as she was little (she still is), but now that she is in college and getting some independence, I see someone who is following the Lord’s leading in her life and her desire to be used by God. It is such an encouragement after literally what seemed like years of having to be tough and consistent. So, I haven’t read this book — but I’m sure it doesn’t advocate permissiveness to show children that you love them. In our training and discipline, our kids should know first of all that we love them, and that when we have to discipline them, we are only doing the discipline because we love them and not because we want people to think highly of us.

“I don’t need to rely on my good works or good decisions for my security. Jesus is enough. He loves me. I can rest in that.” –Crystal Paine

Read about Crystal Paine's new book and enter a giveaway to win one!

Every child is so different. I’m still in the trenches with my 10 year old and 12 year old. I am looking forward to reading this book to see how I can be a better mom — for the sake of my kids. But when I say “better mom,” that isn’t to be taken as a competition or a pressure phrase. It’s meant to be a phrase that is freeing. How can I parent in a way where I demonstrate Christ’s love to my kids? How can I better show love to my children? I think that is what we will learn as we read this book.

Every summer, the moms in our church read a parenting book together. I think this will be our book for next summer. (I already have one for this summer.) In this book, Crystal does share her faith, verses that helped her in her journey as a mom. Each chapter ends with two transforming truths for Love-Centered Parenting. For example, one of the transforming truths after chapter 1 is:

“I can’t be a love-centered parent until I allow myself to be parented by a love-center Father God.” –Crystal Paine

Come enter a giveaway for Crystal Paine's new book, Love-Centered Parenting!

Crystal admits that this book is written more for parents of younger children as she hasn’t completely raised her kids yet. However, I think that every parent — especially parents of teenagers — needs to remember that our kids must know that we love them. Teenagers feel so insecure and want to be accepted. If they know mom and dad love them unconditionally, this fact will keep them from making many foolish choices.

You can buy this book today!! Go HERE to order the book or go HERE to read more about what Crystal says about her book (and you can also take part in her virtual launch party and maybe win a $100 gift card!)

Due to lack of interest, I have stopped doing a link-up on the Thoughtful Thursday posts.

The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 338

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Go HERE for more disclaimers.

By

Here’s what’s new on Creative K Kids:

  • Come link up your recipes to this month’s Tasty Tuesdays linky party!
  • On this week’s Thoughtful Thursdays, I shared a Children’s Bible Lesson on I Corinthians 13:4-7 as well as a printable that goes along with it.. You can go see that post HERE and link up any thoughtful posts you have written.

Thank you for participating in The Ultimate Pinterest Party!

Please share this party with your blogger friends!! If you would like to receive an email reminding you to link up, you can sign up HERE.

Link up 2 pins to The Ultimate Pinterest Party from Friday at 8 am ET - Saturday 8 am ET

HERE ARE THE FAVORITE PINS FROM LAST WEEK’S PARTY:

Favorite pins from The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 338

Both of the favorite pins from last week’s party are from Hello Sewing:

HERE ARE THE FEATURED PINS FROM LAST WEEK’S PARTY:

Featured pins from The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 338

RULES:

  • Rule #1: Link up only 2 PINS (not blog posts. Pins that are duplicates from a previous week will not be repinned.)
  • Rule #2: Do NOT re-pin from the linky below.
  • Rule #3: You must commit to re-pinning from this week’s party on SATURDAY or SUNDAY. Click HERE: WEEK 338, THE ULTIMATE PINTEREST PARTY
  • Rule #4: Please only link up your own original pins that contain your images to this party. Do not link up pictures of other bloggers that you may have included in a round-up. Your collage of pictures for a round-up would be fine.
  • Rule #5: Please do not link up sale posts from your blog or sale posts that go to Etsy or Ebay –only pins that go to actual blog posts on your blog. Thank you.

Details to Observe:

  • Before you link up the pin, click on the pin and make sure it takes you to your post, not your home page.
  • Linking up to this party gives the hosts permission to use a picture and a link to your post if they feature your post on their blogs or social media.
  • Creative K Kids is not responsible for stolen images or the mis-use by others who have found your image through CreativeKKids.com.

Thanks for making this party such a success!!

PLEASE SHARE! You can share on all the social medias (facebook, google+, etc.) but here is a Twitter button to make it easy!

NOW LET’S GET TO OUR PARTY!

  • Follow your hosts on Pinterest. (Click “Follow All” and then go back and unfollow individual boards if you don’t want to see some of our pins):

Tammy from Creative K Kids — Click HERE to follow on Pinterest.

host of The Ultimate Pinterest Party

Ali from Home Crafts by Ali — Click HERE to follow on Pinterest.

host -- Ali from Home Crafts by Ali

  • We will have all the pins pinned by 8 am Eastern time Saturday morning.
  • Please re-pin sometime on Saturday or Sunday. If you know that you do not have the time to re-pin pins, then DO NOT LINK UP!
  • I can decide to not pin a pin if it goes against my beliefs or against the rules of this party.
  • Please grab the button to help bring awareness to this party. Put on your party page, sidebar, or post!
Creative K KIds

PLEASE LINK UP ONLY 2 PINS! (THAT ARE NON-ALCOHOLIC!)

Please sign up HERE to receive emails about the party being open on Friday morning! An email will also be sent on Saturday morning to remind you to repin a few links!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Thoughtful Thursdays: Children’s Bible Lesson on I Corinthians 13:4-7

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Go HERE for more disclaimers.

By

I have thoroughly enjoyed an inductive Bible study I just finished on I Corinthians 13. I use Mama’s Refill, a subscription based devotional site. The devotions are all inductive Bible studies, but Pam Forster lays out daily what you are to do, so it is easy to participate even if you have never done inductive Bible studies before.

If you would like to try out her inductive Bible studies, she has a free study on Psalm 91 HERE.

Since she originally made this site for busy mama’s to be able to get into God’s Word, she has at the bottom of each day’s Bible study a devotional you can do with kids. Even if you don’t have kids, you could use the Bible studies that are made for adults. She does direct some thoughts to ladies, but learning how to look up meanings of words, using commentaries and cross references could be done by anyone.

The past month, I have been teaching the children’s church program at our church as the lady who normally does it just lost her husband. I decided to use some of the devotionals that could be done with children from the I Corinthians 13 study.

This is a lesson you can use to teach children about love (I Corinthians 13:4-7). There is a printout that you can use as well.

These lessons would be great to do before Valentine’s day as they talk about what love is. The first thing I did was write I Corinthians 13:4-7 on the board. I used the NKJV as it uses the word “love” instead of “charity,” but you could use whatever version you like best.

I would leave space above and below each line of words so that you can write above and below the verses to add synonyms later for different words.

When the kids came in, I read about the passage and then talked about what the verses meant. Most of this information I got from doing the adult inductive Bible study on I Corinthians 13.

Love is necessary when upholding truth. Without love, truth will not even be heard. It will be done in vain -- it will be empty or meaningless. Here is what love is.

Below are verses 4-7. In parentheses are some of the synonyms/explanations I gave for the meanings of the words. The underlined words I wrote above the words that were already on the board so that as we went to the next step, the synonyms appeared with the verses. Hopefully, the kids would be able to look at this to remind them what the verses meant.

  • Love suffers long. (This means love is patient with others. It is patient when others offend have offended it. It is slow to anger and slow to react.)
  • and is kind; (This is active kindness. It’s not just thinking kind thoughts; it is doing kind deeds for others. It is useful and pleasant.)
  • love does not envy; (It is not jealous. It does not talk maliciously about others.)
  • love does not parade itself, (It does not boast or brag.)
  • is not puffed up; (It is not inflated in its opinion about itself. It is not arrogant. It does not put itself on display.)
  • does not behave rudely, (Does not bring disgrace or dishonor on on someone.)
  • does not seek its own, (Does not insist on its own way.)
  • is not provoked, (is not irritable or resentful. It does not get angry easily.)
  • thinks no evil;  (It refuses to believe lies about others; it doesn’t remember or record the wrongs others have done against us. It lays down or forgives the offenses people do against it. It does not look for hidden motives in the the things people say and do. It believes the best in others.)
  • does not rejoice in iniquity, (Love does not delight in evil or wrongdoing. It takes no pleasure in evil. It takes no joy in doing injury or hurt to anyone. It wishes ill to no one. It will not rejoice at the faults or failings of others.)
  • but rejoices in the truth; (It rejoices whenever the truth wins out. It is highly satisfied when we see truth or justice prevail. It rejoices in the success of the Gospel and when others have shared the truth and people have turned to God. It is highly delighted when others do well.)
  • bears all things, (It covers with silence. It endures patiently without having to tell everyone about the hardship. It keeps every confidence and protects others by not telling their secrets.)
  • believes all things, (It has faith. It thinks to be true of another person what they have said is true.)
  • hopes all things, (It trusts in. It expects the best. It continues to expect good in someone else even when others have given up on that person.)
  • endures all things. (It remains even when times are hard; it perseveres. It endures persecutions in a patient and loving spirit.)

After we discussed what the verses meant, I handed out a copy of the verses. It had I Corinthians 13:4-7 printed out twice. In the top section of verses, I had them cross out the word love and put in their name instead of the word love. Then they were to read the verses to themselves. Could they always say that they are kind or that they don’t brag? No, they couldn’t could they?

Then in the 2nd section of verses, I had then cross out the word love and put in Jesus’ name. Then they were to read it to them to themselves as I read it out loud. Were these verses now true? Was Jesus always kind? Yes Did Jesus brag? No.

So we are not always loving, but Jesus always was. That’s because God is love. He is (or is not) all those love phrases. It is His nature. So if we want to be more loving, then we should study Jesus’ life and try to become more like Him.

I then challenged them to purposefully work on just one or two of the phrases every week. It may be overwhelming to try to remember everything, but if they know they are someone who brags or they are unkind to others, start with the one thing and ask God to help them to change.

In our class, as I was filling in for the teacher who just lost her husband, we went and made cards for her that we could send to her in the mail. That was an active kindness we could do for her to show that we loved her and were praying for her.

If you would like a copy of the bullet points above, you can get one here. It also includes a copy of the NKJV verses if you want the children to cross out the word love and put in their names and Jesus’ name. If you want to edit it, you would go to “File” and “Make a copy” and then you can edit your copy.

Come link up your thoughtful posts to Thoughtful Thursdays linky party!

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

  1. Do NOT link up recipes, reviews, giveaways, diy, or crafts.
  2. Link up to three posts that have not been linked up to this linky previously!
  3. We would love it if you visited a couple other posts and left a comment or shared/pinned the post!
  4. If you wish, please follow Creative K Kids by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on social media.

If you link up, we would love if you put this button somewhere on your blog (sidebar, post, or party page) or provide a text link so that others can also find these great posts.

Creative K Kids

If you would like to receive a weekly email reminder on Thursday parties about linking up to this party, please sign up HERE.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 337

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Go HERE for more disclaimers.

By

Here’s what’s new on Creative K Kids:

  • This week on Tasty Tuesdays, we shared the new Tasty Tuesdays party for March.  You can link up to the Tasty Tuesday’s linky party HERE.
  • On this week’s Thoughtful Thursdays, I shared some joyful thoughts from Exodus. You can go see that post HERE and link up any thoughtful posts you have written.

Thank you for participating in The Ultimate Pinterest Party!

Please link up only here this week — Ali is still not feeling well.

Please share this party with your blogger friends!! If you would like to receive an email reminding you to link up, you can sign up HERE.

Link up 2 pins to The Ultimate Pinterest Party from Friday at 8 am ET - Saturday 8 am ET

HERE IS THE FAVORITE PIN FROM LAST WEEK’S PARTY:

Favorite pin from The Ultimate Pinterest Party, Week 337

25+ Creative Upcycled Garden Ideas to Add Whimsy to Your Garden Space from Mom Does Reviews had the most saves from last week’s party.

HERE ARE THE FEATURED PINS FROM LAST WEEK’S PARTY:

RULES:

  • Rule #1: Link up only 2 PINS (not blog posts. Pins that are duplicates from a previous week will not be repinned.)
  • Rule #2: Do NOT re-pin from the linky below.
  • Rule #3: You must commit to re-pinning from this week’s party on SATURDAY or SUNDAY. Click HERE: WEEK 337, THE ULTIMATE PINTEREST PARTY
  • Rule #4: Please only link up your own original pins that contain your images to this party. Do not link up pictures of other bloggers that you may have included in a round-up. Your collage of pictures for a round-up would be fine.
  • Rule #5: Please do not link up sale posts from your blog or sale posts that go to Etsy or Ebay –only pins that go to actual blog posts on your blog. Thank you.

Details to Observe:

  • Before you link up the pin, click on the pin and make sure it takes you to your post, not your home page.
  • Linking up to this party gives the hosts permission to use a picture and a link to your post if they feature your post on their blogs or social media.
  • Creative K Kids is not responsible for stolen images or the mis-use by others who have found your image through CreativeKKids.com.

Thanks for making this party such a success!!

PLEASE SHARE! You can share on all the social medias (facebook, google+, etc.) but here is a Twitter button to make it easy!

NOW LET’S GET TO OUR PARTY!

  • Follow your hosts on Pinterest. (Click “Follow All” and then go back and unfollow individual boards if you don’t want to see some of our pins):

Tammy from Creative K Kids — Click HERE to follow on Pinterest.

host of The Ultimate Pinterest Party

Ali from Home Crafts by Ali — Click HERE to follow on Pinterest.

host -- Ali from Home Crafts by Ali

  • We will have all the pins pinned by 8 am Eastern time Saturday morning.
  • Please re-pin sometime on Saturday or Sunday. If you know that you do not have the time to re-pin pins, then DO NOT LINK UP!
  • I can decide to not pin a pin if it goes against my beliefs or against the rules of this party.
  • Please grab the button to help bring awareness to this party. Put on your party page, sidebar, or post!
Creative K KIds

PLEASE LINK UP ONLY 2 PINS! (THAT ARE NON-ALCOHOLIC!)

Please sign up HERE to receive emails about the party being open on Friday morning! An email will also be sent on Saturday morning to remind you to repin a few links!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Websites where I share my giveaways:

Blog Giveaway Directory

Giveaway Monkey

DISCLAIMER
Creative K Kids

Amazon Affiliate:

Tammy Doiel (Creative K Kids) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
logo
Food Advertisements by
Google